Eloise (Hardcover)

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Eloise was one of her picks.

Our daughter's mother and I often have meetings in The Plaza, and sometimes stay overnight there. On one trip, we bought this book in the gift shop and had Eloise sign it for our daughter before we left. Eloise wrote, "Sorry I missed you. Hope to see you next trip Love, Eloise" Every time we went to New York with our daughter when she was six, we looked for Eloise but we kept missing her. It was lucky that her picture was always there to greet us.

After our daughter could read, we would encourage her to read this book while we were away at The Plaza. In that way, she could feel like she was with us.

Then when we went on trips, we would ask her what she would like to do in the hotel. If she couldn't think of anything, we would ask her what Eloise would do. Soon, an interesting plan would develop.

Eloise is a brave little girl. Her mother is always gone, and only invites her to come along when the sun is shining where her mother is. In the meantime, there's room service.

Eloise is a great book for the beginning reader, because the illustrations so nicely match up with the story. In fact, when your child has a chance to visit The Plaza, she or he will be delighted to see that it is so much like the book. This makes it seem like home for your child, as well. Also, there are not too many punctuations (especially periods) so it's easy to focus on the words.

The story is hilarious. Most adults wouldn't have the aplomb or the self-confidence of Eloise. For children, Eloise is a marvel . . . as well as a whimsical role model. What child will not want to have this story read and memorize it? That memorization then helps form the basics of learning to match the memory to the words. And soon, your child is reading along with you. At some point, he or she can take over and read the story aloud to you. What great fun for you both!

One of my favorite qualities in the story is that Eloise is never bored. She must be allergic to ennui. Yet so often youngsters today say they are bored, like war-weary Europeans after World War I. Eloise can help turn that attitude around into more active channels. No television addict is she!

After Eloise has been adopted as a niece into your family, I suggest that you use Eloise's story as a starting point to help your child understand herself or himself better. Why is Eloise so happy in The Plaza? Would your child like to live in The Plaza? Why is Eloise never bored?

Look for opportunities to explore your potential, wherever and whoever you are!

If you want a keepsake about the original for you or as gift for an adult who knows the story, this book is probably better than Eloise for your purposes. If you want the best keepsake and money is no object, I recommend that you trade up into Eloise -- The Ultimate Edition, which has this material plus the three sequels (Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmastime, and Eloise in Moscow). If you want a reading copy for a young person, I suggest that simply buy Eloise.

Kay Thompson's path to writing Eloise was an unexpected one. After having been a successful song arranger, she started a career as a singer with Andy Williams and his three brothers as backups. Soon, she was earning top dollar in Las Vegas. Over the years, she developed a humorous routine for use in private when she wanted to get her way that included playing Eloise. People encouraged her to turn it into a book. One friend, D.D. Dixon, had a neighbor who was an artist, and introduced Ms. Thompson to Hilary Knight. The rest is history. Her wacky, wonderful story and his scintillating art made hash out of the competititon. The book sold wonderfully, and Eloise soon became an institution.

By the way, did you know that Ms. Thompson was living for free at The Plaza while performing in the Persian Room in 1955 when she dreamed up this story for Eloise?

Space does not permit me to also review the Eloise story here. You can see what I had to say about the story on the Eloise book page on Amazon.com.

After enjoying this wonderful book, I suggest that you think about what's good about being six . . . that you can continue to do when you are older by multiples of six. Who says we have to always be mature when we are older, or childish when we are young?

Enjoy your stay at The Plaza!